Kichijiro

Kichijiro was a Japanese Christian fisherman. His family was put to death during the persecution of Christianity in Japan, and he was forced to renounce his faith and flee his country in order to survive. He became an alcoholic fisherman in Macau, and, in 1640, he was hired to take the Jesuit priests Sebastiao Rodrigues and Francisco Garupe to Japan. Kichijiro was later threatened by court officials into having Rodrigues arrested, and he decided to become a prisoner himself; Rodrigues reluctantly absolved him of his sins. He was released after repudiating Jesus once more, and, several years later, he failed to be absolved by Rodrigues, who had genuinely left the faith. Kichijiro was later arrested for possessing a forbidden religious amulet, and he was never seen again.